Description:Synthese spans the topics of Epistemology, Methodology and Philosophy of Science. Coverage includes the theory of knowledge; general methodological problems of science, of induction and probability, of causation and the role of mathematics, statistics and logic in science; and the methodological and foundational problems of different sciences. The journal explores symbolic logic and foundations of mathematics relevant to the philosophy and methodology of science; and those facets of the ethics, history and sociology of science which are important for contemporary topical pursuits. The journal focuses on the role of mathematical, logical and linguistic methods in the general methodology of science and the foundations of different sciences.

The journal includes a section on Knowledge, Rationality and Action as a
platform for researchers. The scope of Knowledge, Rationality and Action is
interdisciplinary: it will be of interest to researchers in the fields of
artificial intelligence, agents, computer science, knowledge representation,
game theory, economics, logic, philosophy, mathematics, cognitive science,
cryptography, and auction theory, as well as to application specialists using
formal and mathematical methods and tools.

The "moving wall" represents the time period between the last issue
available in JSTOR and the most recently published issue of a journal.
Moving walls are generally represented in years. In rare instances, a
publisher has elected to have a "zero" moving wall, so their current
issues are available in JSTOR shortly after publication.
Note: In calculating the moving wall, the current year is not counted.
For example, if the current year is 2008 and a journal has a 5 year
moving wall, articles from the year 2002 are available.

Terms Related to the Moving Wall

Fixed walls: Journals with no new volumes being added to the archive.

Absorbed: Journals that are combined with another title.

Complete: Journals that are no longer published or that have been
combined with another title.

Abstract

Quantum systems have a holistic structure, which implies that they cannot be divided into parts. In order to create (sub)objects like individual substances, molecules, nuclei, etc., in a universal whole, the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen correlations between all the subentities, e.g. all the molecules in a substance, must be suppressed by perceptual and mental processes. Here the particular problems of Gestalt (≡ shape) perception are compared with the attempts to attribute a shape to a quantum mechanical system like a molecule. Gestalt perception and quantum mechanics turn out (on an informal level) to show similar features and problems: holistic aspects, creation of objects, dressing procedures, influence of the 'observer', classical quantities and structures. The attribute 'classical' of a property or structure means that holistic correlations to any other quantity do not exist or that these correlations are considered as irrelevant and therefore eliminated (either deliberately and by declaration or in a mental process that is not under rational control). An example of an imposed classical structure is the nuclear frame of a molecule. Candidates for classical properties that are not imposed by the observer could be the charge of a particle or the handedness of a molecule. It is argued here that at least part of a molecule's shape can be generated 'automatically' by the environment. A molecular shape of this sort arises in addition to Lamb shift-type energy corrections.